Defense argues no evidence of intent; prosecution points to severity of stab wounds

By Mitchell Byars Camera Staff Writer

Posted:
06/17/2013 05:33:20 PM MDT

Editor's note: This article has been corrected to show the victim's name was DJ O'Reilly.

A Boulder judge ruled Monday that prosecutors could move forward with six felony charges -- including four counts of attempted murder -- against a transient accused of stabbing two other homeless people despite the defense attorney's arguments there was no evidence of intent.

Hilbourne "Wind" Sutherland, 38, is facing two counts of first-degree attempted murder, two counts of second-degree attempted murder and two counts of first-degree assault after Boulder County Judge Noel Blum ruled during Sutherland's preliminary hearing Monday that all six charges would be transferred to district court.

Hilbourne Sutherland,? accused in a double stabbing at a campground near Nederland, is seen in this file photo during a hearing at the Boulder County Jail in late May. A Boulder judge ruled Monday that prosecutors could move forward with six felony charges, including attempted murder, against Sutherland.
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Justine
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At the hearing, Boulder County Sheriff's Office Det. Randy Wilber testified that on May 22, Sutherland met up with five other people -- including the two victims, Desarie Leonard and DJ O'Reilly -- in Boulder before the group decided to go camping at Gordon Gulch in western Boulder County.

Wilber said the five other campers told him Sutherland's German shepherd was being aggressive and got into fights with three other dogs -- including two that belonged to people in the group -- and that resulted in a confrontation.

At around 10:45 p.m. Wilber said one of the campers heard Sutherland arguing with Leonard and O'Reilly. After about a minute of extreme silence, the camper told Wilber he heard O'Reilly yelling for help.

The camper then left the tent and found O'Reilly with a stomach wound and his "guts hanging out," and Leonard also on the ground with a neck wound. According to the witness, Sutherland was standing near them holding a knife. When asked if he stabbed them, Sutherland reportedly said, "(expletive) yeah, they tried to jump me."

Two other campers got the victims into a truck and drove them to the Nederland police station where they called for help. Wilber said Leonard had a stab wound to her neck and one to her back that punctured a lung, while O'Reilly had six wounds to his abdomen, arm, neck and back.

O'Neil told officials Sutherland and Leonard were in a confrontation and that he stepped in to break it up. Officials said Leonard initially told police she found Sutherland and O'Reilly fighting and that she tried to break up the fight, but about a week later she changed her story and said the confrontation started with her and Sutherland. Officials said Leonard blamed the pain medication she was on for her original mistake.

Wilber said another person at the campsite told police Sutherland gave him $50 to drive him to I-70, but that he could only drove him to Boulder, where Boulder police arrested him. Police found a bloody pocket knife on Sutherland, along with a smaller utility knife.

Sutherland said Leonard, O'Reilly and another camper jumped him and that he pulled out his knife and went into "survival mode," and that he remembered "poking" the victims.

But prosecutor J.P. Martin said the location and the depth of the wounds -- particularly a six-inch stab wound on O'Reilly's back -- indicated it was not self-defense and that Sutherland intended to kill the victims.

"The story lies most clearly in the wounds suffered by the victims," Martin told Blum. "At some point, the defendant made the decision to pull out one of his two knives and use it against the victims."

But Seth Temin, Sutherland's attorney, said there was no evidence that showed Sutherland intended to kill the victims or that the stabbings were anything but self-defense.

"I'm troubled by the argument of the district attorney basically saying any first-degree assault is attempted murder," he said. "All counts of murder require intent, and there is absolutely no evidence Mr. Sutherland intended to kill anyone.

"The DAs like to charge as much as they can in this county," Temin said.

But Blum said at a preliminary hearing he was required to view the evidence in a light most favorable to the prosecution, and said the "escalating nature of these crimes," and the "number and nature of the stab wounds," was enough to bind the charges over.

Sutherland -- who remains in custody at the Boulder County Jail on $500,000 bond -- is scheduled for an arraignment on Aug. 9.

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